Marking the biggest sales dip in 11 months, US consumer spending cooled off in the first quarter, following the holiday season's strong showing. Year-over-year data, however, shows a healthy uptick of 5.4 percent.

Unilever , one of the world’s biggest spenders on advertising, has threatened to pull ads from digital platforms such as Facebook and Google if they “create division” in society or fail to protect children.

January retail footfall dropped in the UK with the 1.6% fall being bigger than the 1.3% drop a year ago. But at least it’s better than the three-month average of 1.8% that really underlined how tough UK retail is.